Dirty Tackle

How do you start a Champions League qualifying playoff against Arsenal in a way that would even make Zlatan Ibrahimovic think twice? By surprising everyone with an audacious shot on goal right from the opening kick-off. That's what Demba Ba did for Besiktas and even crazier than the shot itself was the fact that it almost worked.

Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny was just able to get a hand on it and knock it off the crossbar, setting a tone for a first half in which Besiktas — and Ba in particular — gave Arsenal more trouble than they might have expected. But the first leg ended 0-0 with Aaron Ramsey being sent off in the 80th minute.

For many Arsenal fans, the shot brought back bad memories of Nayim's last-minute winner for Real Zaragoza against Arsenal in the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final.